LONG POND, Pa. — Michael Crowe had the complete attention of Scott Dixon’s mechanics and engineers. Having pulled away from his father and namesake in the paddock at the Grand Prix of Detroit early this IndyCar season, the now 6-year-old had rushed toward the familiar red and white Target logos of his favorite driver, into the garage area and touched the race car he’d watch win at Phoenix an uncountable number of times back home in West Virginia.

Mike Hull, Ganassi Racing’s managing director gathered up the boy, who he said was obviously ecstatic. Mike Crowe apologized as his son continued to marvel over his favorite driver’s car. No harm done, Hull said.

“For me personally, and I think I represent every person in the paddock, I think we all remember what it was like the first time we got to see race cars up close, how special that actually is,” Hull said. “When kids come, they certainly are the future for us, but they’re also the present.”

The organization struck up a relationship with the Crowes — including Michael’s mother, Samantha, and siblings Maya and Payton — after the encounter and arranged for them and three friends to attend the race this weekend at Pocono Raceway free of charge.

“It’s a lot of fun to obviously see young kids like that,” Dixon said. “When you see kids and the excitement like that, either being at the race or meeting drivers that they follow, it’s definitely very special. And I think for the driver or anyone involved in the sport, it makes it all worthwhile.”

Michael, who is autistic, has been introduced to much of the IndyCar paddock by driver Tony Kanaan and rode to a Ganassi autograph session with former series champion Dario Franchitti, but he seems unlikely to broaden his allegiance. If Dixon’s not leading a race, he’s not very interested.

“We watch the Phoenix race every single day,” Samantha Crowe said of the race this season in which Dixon led 155 of 250 laps for his lone win.

The Crowes initially became acquainted with Dixon when he liked a photo they tweeted of their son in a homemade Halloween costume, a Dixon fire suit standing next to a version of his car constructed out of crafting materials. Michael had first discovered Dixon as a 4-year-old when he snatched their television remote control and flipped to the Indianapolis 500. His son, Mike Crowe said, had long had an “obsession” with Dixon’s sponsor logo.

“Scott was doing an interview at the time and his face lit up like I’d never seen it before,” Mike Crowe, a sheriff’s department dispatcher, said. “We watched every race from them on, on record. Still does that.”

The Crowes had decided to attend the Detroit race because they have family in nearby Livonia. Michael impressed the driver lineup during an autograph session by being able to name almost all of them. He broke away from his father as they were looking at Dixon’s car from outside the tented work area.

“Mike Hull grabbed him and then he called for me to come in, and I’m thinking we’re going to get thrown out of the race,” Mike Crowe recalled. After Crowe tweeted a picture together and raved about the experience, Hull asked for his contact information and Crowe was soon invited by the team to attend Pocono.

“It was one of those things that just happens spontaneously,” Hull said. “We thought, ‘You know if we could host them at another race this year, we want to do that.’ ”

Dixon, who has two young daughters, said he’s enjoyed meeting all of the Crowe children.

“The youngest daughter (Payton), she’s hilarious,” he said. “She calls me ‘Scott Dis-kin,’ and then with Michael, it’s the fascination. I gave him a pair of gloves. I don’t know if it’s the color or the combination or whatever, but his fascination with it is fantastic. It’s very special, man.”